Hummingbird
by Celena Schezar
Summary: The subtle nuances of the lab. A light view of a typical day. Calleigh makes her way through the lab so she can get to work examining her evidence.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything nor am making money, just using the characters for a bit of fun. Everything CSI: Miami is copyrighted and all that jazz to their makers/owners and all that other stuff.

**Hummingbird**

**By: Celena Schezar**

Calleigh walked into the lab with a large cardboard box perched precariously on her two arms. The box was wrapped up tightly with bright red evidence tape and looked like it weighed a ton. People stared as the petite blond walked by, lugging the large container with a slight smile.

She dipped past a co-worker coming out of one of the laboratories, and spun lightly away. Eric laughed lightly as he saw her dodge nimbly out of the way from his vantage point further down the hall. He walked up to her with his arms open. "Need any help?"

She smiled brighter and shook her head. "No, thanks. I think I can manage," she said cheerfully in her soft southern accent.

Eric chuckled and stepped back, shaking his head. "All right, if you say so 'Little Miss Sunshine.'"

She flashed him another wide smile and continued on down the hallway. She knew she probably looked quite silly, such a small thing toting about a large container that she could barely see over the top. The tip of her blond head and her eyes were about the only things peeking out above the box. But she didn't care--she was a big girl, she could handle a little weight.

Calleigh passed by the trace lab and abruptly halted. She leaned forward precariously as the inertia of the big box wanted to continue down the hall, then leaned backward as she regained her balance. Straightening up, she backtracked a few steps and peered inside the room.

"Speed," she called out lightly.

The trace analyst didn't seem to notice her as he peered down the lens of first one microscope and then a second. He leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful frown on his face before leaning forward to examine his evidence again. He toggled between the two microscopes a few times before stopping at one and adjusting the image as he stared down the scope.

Calleigh waited patiently in the hallway. For a while.

"Ahem!" she suddenly cleared her throat. "Excuse me. Would you pay attention?"

Speed adjusted the scope one last time before he glanced up and over at her. He gave her a funny look and tried not to smirk as he made a crack at her appearance. "You, uh, moving in somewhere? I mean, really. You could have used more than one box, even if you don't have much to move."

She smiled quaintly at him, a hint of a smirk creeping into her eyes. "Very studious of you, Tim."

He graced her with one of his infamous smirks in reply.

She rolled her eyes and continued on with her cheerful demeanor. "I was wondering actually--"

"If I could help you with that?" he interrupted. He forged onward despite her glare. "I'm kinda busy at the moment. I'm sure Delko could give you a hand." He made small shooing motions with his hands before he turned back to his microscopes.

"**No**, actually, as I was _going_ to say, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind glancing at some trace I found on some boots from our current suspect." Speed glanced back over at her, a little curious now. She went on. "And I might have something for you after I examine this evidence right here." She indicated the box with a nod. "Would that be ok?" she said in a baby voice, mocking him despite his smirk back.

"Yea, all right. I got it. This stuff?" he said, lifting up an envelope that was sitting next to his current work. He had received the file a few moments ago from a uniformed officer.

"Yes, looks like it. Thank you," she said politely, flashing another smile. She headed out of the trace lab and walked further down the hall to her real destination.

In the layout room Calleigh finally deposited the big box on the wide table. She carefully began to "unwrap" her "present" of evidence, undoing the red tape as gently as possible so she could get inside. For most evidence containers it was strictly forbidden to cut up evidence tape already placed on the container; the person wishing to examine the evidence had to make a new opening to view it. However, with boxes there was a certain leniency. How could you possibly open the box when it was taped up like a Christmas present with extra wrapping otherwise? Still, Calleigh was amused enough to try her luck in not cutting up the previously adhered tape.

Finally getting the lid free and prying it off, Calleigh glanced down at her watch. With a small shake of her head and an amused smile, she rolled her eyes at her fate and carefully reset the lid on top of the box. She kept the tape as far away as possible though.

Slipping back out of the layout room with a light step, the blond woman headed straight for the elevator. She ducked inside just as the doors slid shut and pressed the button for the floor the autopsy room was located.

Humming a small tune, she stepped out of the elevator when it reached her destination and continued down the hallway. She pushed open the large metal door in front of her and entered Alexx Woods's domain with her usual smile.

"Hey, Alexx," she called out good-naturedly. "Is that D.B. ready for me yet?"

The African American glanced up at Calleigh briefly with a friendly smile before ducking back down over her current "patient." Calleigh waited patiently as Alexx finished up what she was doing.

Coming up with a pair of tweezers in her hand, Alexx addressed the blond CSI. "Hey, Calleigh. You want this or should I put it with the rest of my findings and hand it over later?" She held out the pair of tweezers.

Held firmly between the two pincers was a tiny slip of fiber. Calleigh leaned forward and noted the color and design. It was trilobed, terrific! Grinning at Alexx she snagged a small envelop off a nearby table and held it out for the fiber. "Sure, I'll take that."

"Good, because other than that I haven't started," Alexx said with an apologetic smile. "Another D.B. distracted me, sorry. But I've sent the tox screen and started gathering trace. That seems to be the biggest find though. I'll let you know when I finish."

Calleigh gave her thanks and said her goodbyes before heading out of the autopsy room. She headed back to the layout room and her big box of evidence waiting for her return, new evidence in hand.

She walked into the layout room to find Horatio gingerly trying to get his fingers into her evidence. A small grin spread across her lips as the image of a young Horatio trying to sneak a peek at his Christmas presents early entered her mind, and she shook her head amusedly. "Now, now. That's mine; wait your turn, please."

Horatio stopped his prying and ducked a sheepish smile at Calleigh. "Just curious as to what you've got," he said softly. Reassuming his boss-ly seriousness, he stood with his hands on hips and asked more firmly. "So, what've you got?"

Calleigh flashed half a smile and stepped around Horatio to get to the table. He followed her with his eyes, turning around so he could continue to face her. She looked down at the box of evidence for a moment and then glanced up at him. She grinned mischievously. "That's for me to know, and you to find out. Later."

Horatio frowned, but waited patiently for her to continue. And waited. And waited some more.

"Oh, you're no fun," Calleigh finally conceded with an exaggerated sigh. She flashed him another smile and held up the small envelop with the fiber in it. "Just got back from Alexx's, and she gave me this: a trilobed fiber. She's running a bit late with the actual autopsy because another call out," Horatio nodded at this, obviously kept in the loop already, "so this was all she had. Said it was the most interesting find she'd gotten so far and will give me a call when she's finished the autopsy. Which probably just means she'll call me after she calls you, but I can handle that."

Horatio smiled at Calleigh, taking her mock annoyance for just that--faked. She was only teasing him, as usual. "Anything else?" he asked instead, glancing at the box on the table.

She glanced down at it as well. "I just got back with this only a few minutes ago. Straight from the crime scene. I haven't gotten a chance to look at it, so I'm not sure what I've found, if anything. But I've got a good feeling."

Horatio nodded. "All right. Let me know what you get." He gave the blond a parting smile and then slipped out of the room.

Calleigh squared herself in front of the table and took a deep breath. For a moment she wondered if she should get her treasured fiber to trace or maybe just start on it herself, but she decided against either option. When she told Horatio that she had a "good feeling," what she had truly meant was that she had a "really, _really_ good feeling." So she stayed put and began to re-open her big box of evidence.

That was when she remembered...


End file.
